Henderson County Emergency Medical Services is partnering with Pardee UNC Health Care to administer blood transfusions on ambulances. The new program will give EMS the capability to care for critically sick and injured patients who are in shock from blood loss.
"It's going to give our EMS system a means to help people that have had significant trauma or blood loss," Henderson County EMS Director Dr. Thomas Lacy said. "Worldwide, trauma patients' death is about 40 percent due to blood loss." On the first day of the program, HCEMS administered the blood to a significantly injured patient while en route to the Trauma Center in Asheville.
“HCEMS transports to a trauma center can take 30 minutes or more, so this capability increases the chances of saving lives,” EMS Manager Mike Barnett said in a news release.